Ratchet and speed wrench combination

ABSTRACT

A ratchet and speed wrench is provided together with a set of implements comprising sockets and/or screwdriver bits and an optionally usable, upstanding speed handle. A reversible, rotatively mounted, ratchet wheel is completely contained in a ratchet handle or arm, except for a noncircular, lower projection onto which implements may be selectively fitted. The portion of the ratchet wheel within the arm has formed in its upper surface a recess (standard for the set) which is complementary in size, shape and depth to the wheel projection. The upstanding speed handle is adapted to be detachably fitted into the recess of the wheel in axial alignment with the wheel for directly turning the ratchet wheel relative to the ratchet handle. Extension bars may be interposed between the ratchet wheel and the speed handle, and/or between the ratchet wheel and the chosen implement, each bar being provided at its opposite ends with a recess and a projection of the size and shape which is standard for the set.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Kit C. White 3761 S. Pacific I-Iwy., Medford, Oreg. 97501 [21] Appl. No. 845,766 [22] Filed July 29, 1969 [45] Patented Apr. 13, 1971 [54] RATCIIET AND SPEED WRENCH COMBINATION 3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 81/58.l, 81/62, 8l/l77A [51] Int. Cl B25b 13/00, B25g 1/00, B25b 13/46 [50] Field of Search ..81/58.1,62, 177.2, 177.6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,803,980 8/1957 Vogel 81/62 3,508,455 4/1970 Miller 81/58.2 2,463,221 3/1949 Van I-Ioose 81/59.1X

1,601,767 10/1926 Peterson ABSTRACT: A ratchet and speed wrench is provided together with a set of implements comprising sockets and/or screwdriver bits and an optionally usable, upstanding speed handle. A reversible, rotatively mounted, ratchet wheel is completely contained in a ratchet handle or arm, except for a noncircular, lower projection onto which implements may be selectively fitted. The portion of the ratchet wheel within the arm has formed in its upper surface a recess (standard for the set) which is complementary in size, shape and depth to the wheel projection. The upstanding speed handle is adapted to be detachably fitted into the recess of the wheel in axial alignment with the wheel for directly turning the ratchet wheel relative to the ratchet handle. Extension bars may be interposed between the ratchet wheel and the speed handle, and/or between the ratchet wheel and the chosen implement, each bar being provided at its opposite ends with a recess and a projection of the size and shape which is standard for the set.

IRATCIIIIET AND SPEED WRENCH COMBINATION This invention relates to ratchet wrenches, and more particularly to ratchet wrench sets in which various implements, such as wrench sockets and screwdriver bits, may be selectively employed for turning nuts, screws and bolts of various sizes, shapes and designs. In sets of this character the ratchet wheel is commonly provided with a noncircular (generally square) projection on which an implement may be fitted and attached. While some of the implements are designed for operating on small nuts, screws and bolts, the

projection on the ratchet wheel is desirably made large and sturdy enough to withstand the strains imposed by the largest nuts, screws and bolts, and all of the recesses in the implements are made correspondingly large, in other words, the projections and the recesses are all of one standard, adequate size and depth and of the same shape.

The conditions under which ratchet wrenches are required to be used involve every conceivable form of obstruction. In some instances the bare wrench, made of the least practical thickness, is all that can be tolerated, and then only for reciprocation of the ratchet wrench handle through a narrow angle. In other instances a direct extension bar may be interposed between the driven implement and the wrench, the extension bar having a recess at its upper end and a projection at its lower end, both of standard size and shape. In this context it is assumed that the nut, screw or bolt is below the wrench, in other words, that the mechanic is on his feet and is working downward, not on his back and working upward. This supposition will be adhered to throughout unless the contrary is expressly stated.

The primary objectof the invention is to provide a ratchet and speed wrench which includes a ratchet wheel having a noncircular projection onto which an implement may be fitted, the ratchet wheel being otherwise contained completely within the handle, and having formed in its upper face a recess complementary to the projection.

It is a further object of the invention to make provision of a supplemental or speed handle, having a projection of standard size, shape and depth at its lower end, together with a ratchet wrench whose wheel has a lower projection of standard size, but is otherwise housed completely within the bounds of the ratchet handle, the wheel having a recess of standard size, shape and depth formed in its upper face. With this kind of arrangement the supplemental handle can be applied directly to a socket or bit, or to a socket or hit through the ratchet wrench, or through the ratchet wrench with one or more extension bars interposed between the supplemental handle and the ratchet wheel and/or between the ratchet wheel and the socket or bit. The option of using the thin ratchet wrench alone for turning the socket or bit is still available. The speed handle always turns in unison with the ratchet wheel, but it is symmetrically disposed with reference to the axis of the wheel and therefore occupies essentially the same restricted space in all rotative positions of the ratchet wheel.

Even if no extension bar is used, a steadying and pressure handle disposed at the opposite side of the ratchet wrench from the implement is a great convenience, while the interposition of an extension between the ratchet wrench and the implement, or a condition which makes it necessary to reach far in merely to grasp the ratchet handle, accentuates the desirability of such a handle where conditions otherwise permit.

The primary purpose of such a handle is, however, to serve as a speed handle to operate the ratchet wheel and thereby directly and quickly to turn a nut, screw or bolt to the point at which turning becomes difficult and ratcheting is practically possible. Similarly, when a nut, screw or bolt is being withdrawn, the supplemental handle is used as a steadying handle while the ratchet handle is used to effect loosening, and the supplemental handle is then used as a speed handle to complete the job.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show in elevation a practical and advantageous potential wrench assembly which is illustrative of the invention;

FIG. 1 shows a speed handle;

FIGS. 2 and 4 show extension bars, each broken away intermediate its ends for compactness of illustration;

FIG. 3 shows the ratchet wrench;

FIG. 5 shows an. implement (socket) adapted to be turned by the wrench assembly;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a ratchet wheel which forms part of the ratchet wrench;

FIG. 7 is an inverted plan view of the ratchet wrench with a cover plate removed; and

FIG. 8 is a view in elevation of another implement (screwdriver bit) adapted to be turned by the wrench assembly.

The entire assembly may be used to turn any one of a number of implements like those of FIGS. 5 and 8, or parts of the assembly or set may be used without others according to the dictates of necessity or convenience.

In FIGS. l to 5 disclosure is made in separated form of a speed handle 10, a ratchet wrench 12, a typical implement l4, specifically in this instance a socket, and two extension bars 116 and 118. The extension bars and socket are structurally conventional in form, and the ratchet wrench is conventional except for a particular feature of a ratchet wheel 20 which forms a part of it.

As is usual, the wrench includes a straight, thin handle 22, knurled at one end and enlarged and rounded and made hollow at the other end, but still thin, to receive and rotatively support the toothed ratchet wheel 20, and reversible pawl mechanism cooperative with the ratchet wheel. The pawl mechanism includes a pawl 26, urged toward the ratchet wheel by a spring 28 for driving the ratchet wheel clockwise as viewed in FIG. 7, counterclockwise as viewed from above, and a pawl 30, urged toward the ratchet wheel by a spring 32, for driving the ratchet wheel counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 7.

A lever M, pivoted at 36, has an operating handle 38 located outside the handle 22, and a cam 39 located within the handle and operable selectively by the handle 38 to disable the pawl 26 or the pawl 30. A lower cover 40 for the pawl mechanism and the cooperating part of the ratchet wheel 20 is provided, the cover being held in place by two-headed screws (not shown) which have their shanks passed downward freely through screw holes 42 formed in the handle body, and threaded into the cover. The ratchet wheel has a noncircular (square as shown) projection 44 which extends downward through the cover 40, far enough to be received in, and to interlock with, a recess 46 formed in the upper end of the extension bar 18, or an identical recess formed in the upper end of the implement, for example the socket 14.

As thus far described the construction of the wrench is conventional. The ratchet wheel of the conventional wrench, however, is made flat and solid on top, and is not adapted to make connections with anything from above. In the present instance the ratchet wheel 20 has formed in the top surface of its body portion, contained within the handle 22, a recess 50, identical with the recess 46.

The primary purpose of the recess 50 is to provide for the direct connection of the supplemental handle 10 to the ratchet wheel through the fitting of a projection 52 at the lower end of the handle into the recess. The projection 52 is a duplicate of the projections 54 and 56 at the respective lower ends of the extension rods 16 and 18. It should be noted that every one of these projections is provided with a spring-pressed clutch ball 5b for yieldingly maintaining whatever connection is made through it, also that the extension rods 16 and 18 are duplicates of one another, with the possible exception that one may be, and desirably is, longer than the other.

With the combination of instrumentalities described, the mechanic has the following options, every one of which may be highly useful in one situation or another, and all of which,

taken together, cover every situation that has been covered by various conventional assemblies, and some that have never before been covered.

l, The wrench can be used by itself in every situation and in the same way as a conventional ratchet wrench, the instant wrench having no dimension greater than the corresponding dimension of the conventional wrench of the same general design. in particular, the provision of the recess 50 within the ratchet wheel body does not necessitate the thickening of any part of the wrench.

2. The handle 10 may be directly applied for use like a conventional screwdriver handle to a standard recess 60 formed in the socket 14, or to a standard recess 62 formed in the screwdriver bit 64 of HO. 8. ln this instance the wrench is not used.

3. The handle 10 may be applied through one or more of the extension bars l6, 18 for use like a conventional screwdriver handle to any of the implements of which the socket l4 and the screwdriver bits 64 of HG. 8 are examples. In this instance also, the wrench is not used. This is a particularly desirable use when small screws and bolts are to be turned.

4. The handle 10 may be applied to the recess 50 of the ratchet wheel and the projection 44 of the ratchet wheel may be applied directly to any one of the implements of which the socket l4 and the bit 64 are examples. This is a significantly new combination. The handle l stands up from the ratchet wheel 20, in coaxial relation to the wheel. Whether used as a wheel driving means or passively, it always occupies the same space and it always turns in unison with the wheel. It can be used as a steadying and/or pressure applying handle when the wheel is being advanced or retracted intermittently through reciprocation of the ratchet handle 22.

Alternatively, it can be used as a driving or speed handle,

and the handle 22, which will then be held stationary, can beused as a steadying and/or pressure handle.

5. Finally, the speed handle and the ratchet handle 22 may be used with one or more extension bars interposed between the handles and/or between the ratchet handle and the implement in use. ln a combination of this kind the handle 22 is likely to be substantially separated from the implement being turned, and this makes it difficult, in the absence of the handle 10, to apply a purely rotary motion to the wrench combination. The implement can offer little resistance to tilting in response to a slight pressure applied to the distant ratchet handle. If the object being turned is a fragile article like a ceramic spark plug, the object can be destroyed by a slight lateral pressure, particularly if the socket is permitted to back off slightly. The handle 10 serves both to prevent backing off and tilting.

In such a combination, the ratchet handle 22 can serve as a steadying handle when the handle 20 is used for turning the implement.

ln any situation in which a long space, even if generally of narrow dimensions, in axial alignment with the implement being turned is continuously open, it will almost invariably be possible to provide for the location of the ratchet handle in one plane or another where there will be ample room for the ratchet handle 22 to be oscillated through the narrow range required for ratcheting, and to make the handle 10 conveniently accessible. This is particularly true if extension bars of different lengths are provided.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiment of my invention.

lclaim:

1. A ratchet wrench for applying and removing nuts, screws and bolts, through suitably recessed driving implements of a matched set comprising, in combination:

a. a leverage providing ratchet handle which includes a pair of pawls and means for making the pawls alternatively active and inactive; and

b. a ratchet wheel, rotatively mounted in the ratchet handle, for rotation about an axes angularly related to the handle and selectively cooperative with the pawls, and having as an integral part thereof a noncircular projection that protrudes axially below the ratchet handle and is adapted to have a driving fit in any member of the matched set of recessed driving implements, the ratchet wheel being otherwise confined within the bounds of the handle body and having a noncircular recess in its upper face which is complementary in size, shape and depth to said projection, and is coaxial with the projection,

the construction and arrangement being such that any drive member having a projection of the same shape and dimensions as the projection on the ratchet wheel is adapted to be applied directly to any member of the ratchet implement set to which the ratchet wheel may be applied, and may also be applied through the wheel to act upon any selected one of said implements.

2. A combination of ratchet wrench as set forth in claim 1 and speed handle which further includes c. a speed handle having as an integral part thereof a fixed, axially extending projection constructed and arranged to fit detachably but rigidly into the recess of the ratchet wheel,

the construction and arrangement being such that the ratchet handle and the speed handle may be simultaneously connected and selectively operated to drive the active implement through the wheel, but the speed handle may be withdrawn at any time desired without impairing the driving connection of the ratchet handle through the wheel.

3. A combination of ratchet wrench and speed handle as set forth in claim 2 which further includes a plurality of extension bars each having at its opposite ends a socket and a projection corresponding, respectively, in size, shape and depth to the socket and the projection of the ratchet wheel, for optional use between the speed handle and the ratchet wheel and/or between the ratchet wheel and the active implement. 

1. A ratchet wrench for applying and removing nuts, screws and bolts, through suitably recessed driving implements of a matched set comprising, in combination: a. a leverage providing ratchet handle which includes a pair of pawls and means for making the pawls alternatively active and inactive; and b. a ratchet wheel, rotatively mounted in the ratchet handle, for rotation about an axes angularly related to the handle and selectively cooperative with the pawls, and having as an integral part thereof a noncircular projection that protrudes axially below the ratchet handle and is adapted to have a driving fit in any member of the matched set of recessed driving implements, the ratchet wheel being otherwise confined within the bounds of the handle body and having a noncircular recess in its upper face which is complementary in size, shape and depth to said projection, and is coaxial with the projection, the construction and arrangement being such that any drive member having a projection of the same shape and dimensions as the projection on the ratchet wheel is adapted to be applied directly to any member of the ratchet implement set to which the ratchet wheel may be applied, and may also be applied through the wheel to act upon any selected one of said implements.
 2. A combination of ratchet wrench as set forth in claim 1 and speed handle which further includes c. a speed handle having as an integral part thereof a fixed, axially extending projection constructed and arranged to fit detachably but rigidly into the recess of the ratchet wheel, the construction and arrangement being such that the ratchet handle and the speed handle may be simultaneously connected and selectively operated to drive the active implement through the wheel, but the speed handle may be withdrawn at any time desired without impairing the driving connection of the ratchet handle through the wheel.
 3. A combination of ratchet wrench and speed handle as set forth in claim 2 which further includes a plurality of extension bars each having at its opposite ends a socket and a projection corresponding, respectively, in size, shape and depth to the socket and the projection of the ratchet wheel, for optional use between the speed handle and the ratchet wheel and/or between the ratchet wheel and the active implement. 